Thursday, May 21, 2009
Categorized | Best Practices, Financial, Personalization
Carrying on a Conversation
Posted by Sundeep Kapur | Thursday, May 21, 2009
Marketers are often impatient people… we know our elevator speech and happily recite it at any given point, so it’s difficult to accept when your offers aren’t accepted or you lose out to a competing brand. Financial Institutions are definitely included in this mix – if a customer has an existing line of business, why wouldn’t they automatically use your…We’ve written about how now is the time for all FIs to engage and connect, let’s expand on ways to connect with your emerging and existing base. One of the most obvious ways is your standard billboard example – a big sign that says we do it all.
A second approach could be full list of all the services provided by the FI; effectively used in your print collateral… but this could be overwhelming and depends on the recipient finding the most appealing offer.
A third approach would be to gradually expose the recipient to a series of offers/ messages from your FI. This method is destined for email delivery; it allows you to carry on a conversation and can easily be initiated. The first could be a simple link on an eStatement taking the recipient to a survey or a few offers. A subsequent email could offer a little more detail based on the responses/ clicks and slowly, the FI lets the recipient know that they can help with savings instruments, provide a credit card, help with a car loan, offer insurance or assist with the purchase of a home.
It is a gradual process, requires interaction but can be highly effective when done correctly. The cycle requires both parties to learn to listen… or in the email world, track clicks and feedback. Keep in mind that the interaction may take years to play out, here’s an example from a creative FI.
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1 Responses to “Carrying on a Conversation”
May 21, 2009 8:33:00 AM EDT
Why have FI's thrived in their ability to present information to meet customer needs for many years? They have been able to exceed customer expectations by using promotions to drive people to the branch environment where dialogue became an important relationship building component.
But today, nearly 3/4 of FI customers are online and rarely or never cross the branch threshold.
Therefore, it's accurate to say that eMail is a highly consistent way to give the customer control of the relationship while still allowing the FI a consistent means to ask the questions necessary to spark a healthy relationship. If the messaging strategy is engaging, it can promote healthy dialogue, promote the benefits of interaction and drive people to build healthy relationships with the people providing service across every channel.
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